In a stunning reversal for founder of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Altaf Hussain, the party broke away on Tuesday from its chief exiled in London, following his anti-Pakistan tirade in which he called the country “cancer for the entire world”.
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His speech also contained anti-Pakistan slogans, which drew countrywide criticism – from within the party as well -, and subsequently led to a security forces crackdown in Karachi, and other parts of the southern Sindh province, late Monday night.
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan strongly condemned the statement of MQM chief for maligning Pakistan.
The case pertains to the attack on “ARY” News’ office, vandalising of property, arson and pelting of stones at police.
The mayor-elect of Karachi, detained last month on allegations that he helped militants and criminals, vowed on Wednesday to run Pakistan’s largest and richest city from his prison cell. “Therefore, to make sure that these things do not happen in the future, we are taking the party affairs in our hands”, Sattar said with over two dozen party leaders, and parliamentarians alongside him.
Hussain was arrested in June 2014 by British police on suspicion of money laundering charges, but later released on bail, leading to speculation that his once cosy ties with London – who viewed his party as a bulwark against Taliban terrorism – were fraying.
Sattar’s speech was received well in the Pakistani press, but it clearly was an attempt at damage control. Altaf Hussain’s security called the police outside the house.
Pakistan Sunni Tehrik leaders Maulana Noor Ahmed Qasmi and Khalid Hassan Attari and others insisted that the MQM must be banned and sedition cases registered against all those who raised anti-Pakistan slogans. His ensuing critique of Pakistani media sparked the attack on the television channel’s office, which resulted in one death and numerous injuries.
The violence erupted soon after Altaf Hussain, gave a telephone address to his supporters in which he castigated the media for not giving due coverage to his workers. He said that there is little doubt left that Altaf Hussain has incited violence and law of the land must come into action.
Protests by its followers – often triggered by statements by Hussain, who has lived in London since 1992 – have over the years triggered stock-market gyrations and political upheaval.
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Scotland Yard said it is examining whether a Pakistani political leader incited violence in Karachi when he addressed followers from his north London base on Monday.
